Chapter 109: Joey vs. Ptah
"The Top 8 qualifiers, huh?" Joey looked around at the others, slightly nervous. "I wonder who I'll be up against. I'm so nervous."
"I'd actually like to face you sooner rather than later, kid. Beating you would be too easy; I probably wouldn't even need to reveal my Ace Card. In these qualifiers, the deeper you hide your trump cards, the better," Bandit Keith said to Joey.
Joey didn't back down. "Hmph, I should be the one saying that to you! Against a scumbag like you, I won't even need 1% of my strength. I'll beat you without breaking a sweat."
"Oh, Joey-boy and Mr. Bandit Keith seem quite excited for the qualifiers."
Pegasus noticed Bandit Keith and Joey trading barbs. "Your passion for the Duel, it moves me so. But," he paused, putting on a helpless expression as he spread his hands and shook his head, "for the sake of fairness, the one who decides your Dueling order is not yourself, nor is it me, but *this*!"
He snapped his fingers. Croquet, who had returned to his post, took the cue and pressed a button on a remote control. A door suddenly split open in the wall opposite the Duel Arena's Audience Seating, and a large screen extended out from within.
On the screen were eight illuminated Avatar Frames, identical in style to yesterday's. The only difference was that today, the avatars within the frames were also lit up, displaying the faces of Hayato, Yugi, Joey, and the others.
The image on the screen began to change. The eight avatars faded away one by one, leaving only two blank Avatar Frames, symmetrical on either side of the screen. The portraits inside the frames cycled rapidly for a short while before gradually coming to a stop. Finally, the faces that appeared on the screen were those of Joey and Ptah Garam.
"I'm the first one up?" Ptah glanced at the nearby Joey before dismissing him entirely, his gaze fixed on Sheppard, who sat beside Yugi. "Hmph, Sheppard, you got lucky you didn't draw me. Make sure you win your matches, and then get ready for me to finish you off!"
Joey got angry. "Hey, you! Aren't you celebrating a little too early? The one who's going to win this Duel is me! I have a reason I can't afford to lose."
"As you can all see, the participants for the first qualifier match are Joey-boy and Ptah-boy~" Pegasus raised his hands and applauded, but since no one joined in, he stopped after two claps. He didn't seem embarrassed in the slightest, still wearing a smile. "Well then, the match will begin in ten minutes. You two had better get ready~"
Guided by Croquet, the group made their way to the Audience Seating they had been in yesterday, each finding a suitable place to sit. Meanwhile, Joey and Ptah Garam followed Croquet backstage to prepare for the upcoming Duel.
"Mr. Sheppard, I heard from Miss Mai that you've Dueled that Ptah Garam once before," Yugi, sitting next to Hayato, asked Sheppard beside him.
Sheppard took off his hat, revealing a full head of thick hair, and nodded. "Yes, we ran into each other on the island yesterday afternoon. At the time, he seemed to be on a seven-Duel winning streak and was just one Star Chip short of qualifying for the finals, so he challenged me as soon as he saw me."
"Although the Duel was perilous, I was a step ahead in the end and managed to win. We only wagered one Star Chip, but I think because I ended his winning streak, he seems to really hate me now, hahaha."
"However, you can't underestimate him just because he lost to me once." Sheppard's expression turned serious. "If I had to Duel him again, I couldn't guarantee that I would win a second time."
"The Deck that guy uses seems to be made up of Super Rare Cards. While not as frightening as the (*Blue-Eyes White Dragon*), it seems only a handful of people in the entire world use it."
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Soon, the passages on either side of the already-prepared Duel Stage opened. Joey and Ptah each rode an automated elevator from their respective passages up to the Duel Stage. After they placed their Decks on the Duel Stage, Croquet confirmed that both duelists were ready and announced in a loud voice:
"I declare the start of the first match of the Duelist Kingdom Top 8 qualifiers: Duelist Joey Wheeler, versus Duelist Ptah Garam."
"Let the Match, begin!"
"Duel!" x2
[Ptah: 4000 LP, Hand: 5]
[Joey: 4000 LP, Hand: 5]
"The First Turn is mine! I draw!" Moving a fraction faster than Joey, Ptah drew his opening hand, seizing the first move. "Listen up, kid! I'm about to show you what a magnificent Duel from yours truly looks like!"
"First, I Activate the Spell Card, (*Sealing Incantation*)!"
Through the Solid Vision system, an ancient wooden box appeared on Ptah's Field. The four corners of the box were sealed shut with sturdy screws, as if something incredible was locked inside.
"(*Sealing Incantation*)?! Could it be *that* Deck?" Although Ptah had only played a single card, the knowledgeable Yugi had already recognized the true identity of his Deck. Beside him, Sheppard nodded, confirming Yugi's guess. "Yes, it's the (*Sealed Beast*) Deck."
"His strategy revolves around the Spell Card (*Sealing Incantation*), using it to Summon a huge number of (*Sealed Beast*) Monsters to form an army and crush his opponent. That's Ptah Garam's Dueling style." Sheppard said with a serious expression. "Even if you defeat a few (*Sealed Beast*) Monsters, it's useless. As long as (*Sealing Incantation*) is on the Field, Ptah can Summon a horde of them again at any time."
"Once the number of Monsters reaches a certain point, an ordinary duelist would have a hard time surviving even a single turn." Sheppard watched the Duel Field. "While it has the weakness of being relatively frail without (*Sealing Incantation*) on the field, to think he drew his Deck's core card on the very first turn..."
"Your friend, Joey, is in danger. The only saving grace right now is that Ptah can't Attack since he has the First Turn."
Ptah's plays didn't stop after activating (*Sealing Incantation*). Just as Sheppard had said, his Summons were only just beginning—
"Because (*Sealing Incantation*) is on the Field, I can Special Summon (*Sealed Beast - Inun*) and (*Sealed Beast - Nunurao*) directly from my Hand!"
As he spoke, Ptah played both cards from his Hand onto his Field.
***
Author's Notes:
The Sealed Beasts are monsters used by Amon Garam in the GX manga. They haven't been released in the OCG, and since they're manga-only cards, not many people know about them, so I decided to have Amon's dad use them.
By the way, the names of the Sealed Beast monsters seem to be taken from various mythologies. For example, Inun is from Jewish mythology, and Nunurao is from the creation myth of the Puyuma people, etc.
Also, in the manga, the Attributes and Types of the Sealed Beast monsters were never shown, not for a single one. So, I've made them up here based on their Card Art (it's that classic 'guess the Dragon-Type from the picture' time again).
***
(end of chapter)